UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS 



IN 



AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES 



Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 25-36, plates 9-11 September 29, 1917 



OPTIMUM MOISTURE CONDITIONS FOR YOUNG 

 LEMON TREES ON A LOAM SOIL 



BY 



L. W. FOWLER and C. B. LIPMAX 



Among the numerous problems emanating from the use of irriga- 

 tion water on land is the important one of maintaining as nearly as 

 possible an optimum moisture content in the soil. While much 

 research work has been done in an attempt to determine what consti- 

 tutes such an optimum moisture content, it seems that our knowledge 

 is still too indefinite for accurate application to specific cases. For 

 that reason it has appeared to the junior author that some specific 

 information should be gathered concerning the moisture needs of soils 

 which are used for growing crops under field conditions and also the 

 variations in such moisture needs occurring through changes in soil 

 type and changes in the kind of crop grown. Obviously the task just 

 mentioned is too great to be disposed of quickly, and in one series 

 of experiments, and it has, therefore, seemed wise to start the work 

 with one crop and one soil type first. Owing to the fart that the 

 Limoneira Company of Santa Paula, California, expressed its willing- 

 ness to co-operate in such an experiment and to give to it the time 

 and attention of the senior author as well as the necessary equipment, 

 the experiment was started with young lemon trees on a loam soil, 

 characteristic of much of the large ranch in the possession of the 

 company. It was further hoped that the results obtained from the 

 experiment, along with contemporaneous results of careful moisture 

 determinations at short intervals in the lemon orchards, would give a 

 basis for planning a scientific system of irrigation in the orchard 

 question. A plan for the specific experiment, and one for the field 

 work were arranged by the junior author and they were executed 

 under the direction of the senior author. The detailed results of the 



